Mr Donnelly was speaking at the Social Democrats manifesto launch where the party’s candidates announced that they would also provide NHS-style health policies and reduce the cost of living.

“We are seeing what’s happening in China, in the emerging markets, America and the UK, this is absolutely not the time for Fianna Fail economics,” he said.

“We need to use the breathing space we have to invest, to get ready to back society and small business and to make sure the next time we don’t loose another decade the next time bad news comes Ireland’s way.”

“We would not erode the tax base, we would use that revenue to get us ready for next macro shock that is coming from China or somewhere else and we would use the money, which would be billions of euros a year, to invest in healthcare, to invest in education and to properly back Irish businesses so that they can succeed just as much as the multi national sector has.”

TD Catherine Murphy, however, said that nothing in their manifesto that is set in stone.

“What we’ve set out in this is not a shopping list, it’s a vision. There’s more to be added. It’s not as if you can look at things in isolation. There is a relationship between them,” she said.